Pink-FootedShearwater

06

A Pink-footed Shearwater outfitted with a GPS tag to record the locations of its foraging trips. This data will be used to assess at-sea threats for the birds, such as bycatch in fisheries. Photo by: Jonathan Felis.

I check my watch once again. 5:15 AM. I stare into the pitch black, complete darkness of the forest and keep waiting. Only a few more hours until dawn, when we can wrap up for the night and head home. Suddenly, a crashing sound erupts from the trees above and in a barely controlled fall, a large, gray, long-winged seabird plops down, nearly hitting me in the head in the darkness. It’s a Pink-footed Shearwater—known locally as Fardela Blanca. A bird built for the sea, landing 1,000 ft. up a mountain in a dense forest on Isla Mocha, Chile.